New Technologies Link Ancient Cultures

Ellis, Ken. "New Technologies Link Ancient Cultures." Edutopia. N.p., 6 June 2002. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. <http://www.edutopia.org/new-technologies-link-ancient-cultures>.

Elementary students at that Choctaw Tribal School in Mississippi interview tribal elders about tribal culture and customs and post the interview, pictures and other information on a website called the First People’s Project.  Many indigenous groups around the world also post information on this site, part of the International Education and Research Network (iEARN), which began in Australia.  The goal of the project is to collect information on indigenous groups throughout the world that may not be found in textbooks, and create of source of international multicultural source of information on indigenous people.  Armed with casino money, the Mississippi Choctaw tribe have been large financial contributors to this project, and the spin-off “Humanitarian Project” which has paid for technologies in the classroom as well as “a school in Thailand”. “I don't want kids to stop playing stickball or forget about traditional dancing and cooking, or speaking their own language," says athletic instructor Jason Bell. "I hope we can influence these kids that we need to keep our culture alive for the next generation."

The goals and purpose of the project seem quite noble.  A tool like this seems like a good one and a good source for students researching indigenous cultures.  However I have certain questions how this is going to preserve Choctaw or another natives group’s culture that much longer.  Certainly school children interviewed elders for class memory projects before the advent of the Internet.  The Internet simply allows for a new way of sharing that information, which is very good.  The website is in English and Spanish.  My question is does this really inspire students to keep their cultures alive or are they simply co-opting it into the technology of day, technologies that were devised outside of their culture, by values that may or may not be their tribal cultures.  Part of me is feels like this is like saying the horse tribes of the midwest now have pickup trucks so that are able to get more things done more efficiently and are therefore able to preserve their culture that much better.  It all seems like a false analogy, but the project seems worthy nonetheless, just because of the expansive audience that the Internet can provide.